This invention relates to a template for marking on the reverse side of wall paneling the location of electrical outlet boxes.
When wall paneling is installed in a building, an access hole must be cut in the individual panels to accommodate electrical outlet boxes. These outlet boxes can contain either electrical switches or electrical plug receptacles, and can be of varying sizes. Measuring the location of the electrical box on the wall and then attempting to make the access hole in the paneling using these measurements is difficult, time-consuming, and error prone, and can lead to ruined panels with holes cut at the wrong locations.
Various templates have been developed in an attempt to facilitate placing the access holes accurately in panelling. Some of the templates are designed to be positioned and held securely in an electrical outlet box by means of flexible legs which frictionally engage the inner sides of the electrical outlet box. However, these templates can not be used in all applications because electrical boxes vary in size. Also, they cannot be used where multiple plugs or outlets or switches are mounted in an enclosed box.
Other templates are designed to be used for an electrical switch or an electrical receptacle, but not both. Still others can be used with either type of electrical outlet box, but due to the means of making the template accommodate both types of boxes, the template is raised off the wall a considerable distance, thus decreasing the accuracy of the placement of the access hole as marked by the template. Still other templates cannot be used where either the switch or receptacle is present in the box, such as where the panels are being installed in connection with remodeling.
In some templates, the template marks the position of the electrical outlet box using either punch studs or a stamp for transmitting the outline of the box to the panel. The templates employing punch studs must be made of a heavy, sturdy metal in order to withstand the hammer blows necessary to imprint the position of the studs on the reverse side of the panels. The templates employing an outline of the box must be inked and pressure must be applied on the panel to the entire template in order to transmit to the reverse side of the panel the full outline of the box. Further, due to the large area to be inked, ink tends to be distributed to hands and other articles which are not meant to be inked.